The music industry is a very powerful engine in society, not only for entertainment, but also for socialization.
It’s one of the strongest contributors to the stereotypes and mentalities we see in society today. One of the strongest of those stereotypes is its portrayal of women.
We all remember Kanye’s song Gold Digger, for example.
Despite the fact that I didn’t agree with the ideology presented in that song, I still found myself learning the lyrics. Gold Digger was about the kind of woman who uses her looks to trap men into relationships.
From what I understood, the “gold digger” is pretty soulless: she’ll trick you into supporting a child that wasn’t yours, use child support to get liposuction and drill massive holes in your bank account.
She is the type of woman who never loves a man for himself, but only for his money.
The music industry has managed to successfully create this stereotype about women and, in doing so, has managed to create the male mentality that all women are after their pockets and not their hearts.
T.I.’s song Whatever You Like depicts women in another light, wherein even though the woman is not portrayed as a gold digger, her sole purpose within the relationship is to reap the benefits of the man’s wealth — wealth, of course, that she never worked for.
As a result of these types of songs being produced in the music industry, girls around me have started to adopt the attitude that if he isn’t wealthy, then he isn’t worth an ounce of her time.
I suppose gold diggers succeed for so long because they had the ability to suck a man dry (very vampire-ish), yet manage to preserve his ego at the same time. I know: you’re wondering how it’s possible.
It seemed to me that men love gold diggers because even though they are so parasitic, they make a man feel needed as a provider in their lives. They give men a purpose.
This concept, however, is changing both in music and society.
Recently I saw a change in the way that the music industry portrays women and the mindset that it is creating about the type of woman who is typically attractive to a man. It seems that the idea has gone from one extreme to the other, and this time it’s not in the negative way.
Hail the birth of “Ms. Independent”: the fancy girl who has acquired her wealth through her own hard work and intelligence, not via filching from her boyfriend’s pocket in the name of “love.”
She first appeared to our generation’s music industry in the Destiny’s Child song Independent Woman, but was ignored by a majority of men.
Not until Ne-yo came out with two songs of the same theme: Ms. Independent and She Got Her Own (and now Drake’s song Fancy) has the image of an independent woman entered the stratosphere. I have begun to see men look for women who have more substance than good looks and sex appeal.
They have started to look for women who are driven, career-oriented, who could be their equals in relationships, who don’t have to depend on their men in order to survive and who actually have the ability to love a man simply for his heart.
I worried initially that the male ego would prevent the rise of the independent woman, simply because a woman who can provide for herself financially supposedly “doesn’t need a man” for anything (this is partially true).
But it seems that men in the industry and in society have recognized that financial independence in a woman doesn’t mean that a man’s ability to satisfy her sexual and emotional needs will become obsolete. Vibrators don’t have much of a personality, after all.
Some people have said to me that it would be better if women were portrayed as men’s equals by not having the focus lie so much on a girl’s physical appearance, but rather on her academic achievement or success.
I partly agree, but I also say, why shouldn’t she physical be acknowledged?
There are a lot of smart girls at this university and as much as they want you to see their brains, they also want you to see their beauty.
Sexuality isn’t something that should be used to make a woman feel inferior. If she’s successful and sexy, she shouldn’t be bashed for the latter.
It’s wonderful to see a little progress in the way women are portrayed in music and thus in culture.
These more progressive songs should be blasting in our hallways and cars. Hopefully they will create the healthy, balanced relationships that we are supposed to have between sexes.
Thank goodness men have finally caught on and started to praise the fancy girls (who have been there all along) and uphold them as the examples of what a woman should be in society.
So, men, next time you see a fancy girl pull up in her M3 BMW, don’t be afraid to ask her out to dinner.
When your tummy’s full, trust me, she won’t expect you to pay.
Philippa Hatendi can be reached at phatendi@spartans.ut.edu